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What to get in my MacBook Pro ?? Girl here needing help
- Thread starter crazy legs
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She mentioned above that she is planning to use Photoshop, Illustrator, In Design etc. As a result I'd say a 15" MacBook Pro is the minimum she'd be happy with. That extra 2" screen doesn't sound like a lot, but it is.
All the advice here looks good. My main suggestion would be that if money is a factor, don't go for 4GB of RAM but 3GB instead. And always go 3rd party. A 2GB stick will run $50 or so versus $100 for 2x2GB sticks.
I do lots of photography and web design as a hobby. I use Adobe's Creative Suite daily and have 3GB on my MacBook. It's more than enough RAM for now (2GB was starting to get tight), and by the time I need to upgrade, 2GB sticks should be down in price even more.
Also, for the hard drive I suggest getting as much space you need directly from Apple. They're not terribly overpriced like the RAM is and it'll save you a lot of trouble. I've replaced drives in various MacBooks and MacBook Pros and it's a tough install. Usually takes about 30 mins not including the hard drive cloning time.
Last, go for hard drive space, not speed. 4200RPM vs 5300RPM differences are negligible really. You're better off waiting a tiny bit more for files to read/write than running out of space at a bad time.
I do lots of photography and web design as a hobby. I use Adobe's Creative Suite daily and have 3GB on my MacBook. It's more than enough RAM for now (2GB was starting to get tight), and by the time I need to upgrade, 2GB sticks should be down in price even more.
Also, for the hard drive I suggest getting as much space you need directly from Apple. They're not terribly overpriced like the RAM is and it'll save you a lot of trouble. I've replaced drives in various MacBooks and MacBook Pros and it's a tough install. Usually takes about 30 mins not including the hard drive cloning time.
Last, go for hard drive space, not speed. 4200RPM vs 5300RPM differences are negligible really. You're better off waiting a tiny bit more for files to read/write than running out of space at a bad time.
I'd go with the 2.2 or 2.4 GHz models with a larger hard drive from Apple, and then get some after-market notebook RAM as it is a lot cheaper than trying to get it through Apple when you order.
My experience is this: I've got a MacBook Pro 15" 2.2 GHz with 2GB of RAM and 120 GB hard drive with a 128 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600m GT video card, and I use it for everything. Photo and video editing (I've been working with extremely large RAW files which weigh in at a resolution of around 10,000 x 6,500 and this computer doesn't even blink an eye, it just works, no amount of wait time or anything), audio editing, web design and coding, e-mail/instant messaging, browsing the internet, listening to music and watching videos, you name it and this MacBook Pro will do it. I haven't had a single problem with it, and it's got more than enough horsepower. You will not regret buying one!
My experience is this: I've got a MacBook Pro 15" 2.2 GHz with 2GB of RAM and 120 GB hard drive with a 128 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600m GT video card, and I use it for everything. Photo and video editing (I've been working with extremely large RAW files which weigh in at a resolution of around 10,000 x 6,500 and this computer doesn't even blink an eye, it just works, no amount of wait time or anything), audio editing, web design and coding, e-mail/instant messaging, browsing the internet, listening to music and watching videos, you name it and this MacBook Pro will do it. I haven't had a single problem with it, and it's got more than enough horsepower. You will not regret buying one!
Wow a girl on macrumors! Some people need to get outside and see what its like! Ha
Anywho, from reading I don't think I saw some definate evidence that suggested that base model only comes with an 128mb video card whereas all the other models have 256mb.
Also it is rumored (as in noone really has a clue, but it seems logical) that Apple might bump the basic to 256mb and the other models to 512mb!
So maybe waiting for this update will not be such a bad thing for you!
Enjoy your purchase, what ever you do!
Indeed it is rumoured, but it's unlikely. Still unless the OP s doing 3D work it's unlikely that she'll need the larger VRAM.
Hey, all. I thought I'd run a configuration and its intended use by y'all and see if it would be most appropriate for my purposes.
I'm looking at a MBP 17" (my first Mac) with the HD screen, 2.6 processor upgrade, and 200gb 7200rpm HDD upgrade. I intend to get more memory from Newegg (link) to upgrade to 4gb.
I need it to edit video in realtime (or as close to it as possible) in both FCS2 and Avid. All other programs I'd run have smaller requirements, so I'm basing the spec on Avid and FCP.
Three questions:
Will this spec do what I think it will, and need it to?
Is this overkill, and if so, what can I loose without impacting performance?
In your opinions, is it worth waiting around for the upgrades rumored to be coming one of these days? Will they be worth the wait for this configuration?
And a subsidiary question: how long will the wait be? I've noticed the rumor sites have been fairly quiet on the MBP front these last couple of weeks. I need to be working on the first video-based project on this new computer by the third week of February at the latest, although if the updates were coming the week after I might just do the first project on PC and switch to Mac for the next one.
Thanks, y'all!
I'm looking at a MBP 17" (my first Mac) with the HD screen, 2.6 processor upgrade, and 200gb 7200rpm HDD upgrade. I intend to get more memory from Newegg (link) to upgrade to 4gb.
I need it to edit video in realtime (or as close to it as possible) in both FCS2 and Avid. All other programs I'd run have smaller requirements, so I'm basing the spec on Avid and FCP.
Three questions:
Will this spec do what I think it will, and need it to?
Is this overkill, and if so, what can I loose without impacting performance?
In your opinions, is it worth waiting around for the upgrades rumored to be coming one of these days? Will they be worth the wait for this configuration?
And a subsidiary question: how long will the wait be? I've noticed the rumor sites have been fairly quiet on the MBP front these last couple of weeks. I need to be working on the first video-based project on this new computer by the third week of February at the latest, although if the updates were coming the week after I might just do the first project on PC and switch to Mac for the next one.
Thanks, y'all!
I'll confirm most of the advice. RAM is simple as dirt if you're the least handy with a jeweler's screwdriver, so get that 3rd party. OWC and CanadaRAM are both trustworthy, reliable, and fairly priced sources. Kingston and Crucial, while good quality, have some pricing that can grate the nerves at times. Just do NOT buy RAM from Apple. They price it as a convenience to them, not you. The current MBP (and MB) handle up to 4GB, and can be swapped by you at any time. No rush there.
Hard drive space is also something that you can't have too much of, but as has been noted, is problematic to swap yourself on the Pro line, as it's not considered by Apple to be user-replaceable. Get as much of that from Apple as you can handle, price-wise, and be done with it. Again, drive speed will not be an issue for 99% of your work. 4200rpm vs 5400rpm will be unnoticeable.
In the Pro line, you have a choice of glossy or matte displays. You need to look at each side by side and determine what's best for you. Folks will argue vehemently about the relative merits, but it all boils down to personal preference. I like glossy, but can live with matte. Like I said, do a comparison launching basic apps that will give you an idea of what you would encounter in your day to day usage.
As far as the gender thing, many of our forum mods are of the "female persuasion", and pretty much kick our asses on a regular basis. Don't let the juveniles annoy or pester you. Mix it up, take no guff, and welcome to the family!
Hard drive space is also something that you can't have too much of, but as has been noted, is problematic to swap yourself on the Pro line, as it's not considered by Apple to be user-replaceable. Get as much of that from Apple as you can handle, price-wise, and be done with it. Again, drive speed will not be an issue for 99% of your work. 4200rpm vs 5400rpm will be unnoticeable.
In the Pro line, you have a choice of glossy or matte displays. You need to look at each side by side and determine what's best for you. Folks will argue vehemently about the relative merits, but it all boils down to personal preference. I like glossy, but can live with matte. Like I said, do a comparison launching basic apps that will give you an idea of what you would encounter in your day to day usage.
As far as the gender thing, many of our forum mods are of the "female persuasion", and pretty much kick our asses on a regular basis. Don't let the juveniles annoy or pester you. Mix it up, take no guff, and welcome to the family!
Moshi Products are great. Love the Codex and Palmguard.
http://www.aevoe.com/moshi/palmguard.htm
A palmguard that matches almost perfectly with my computer. The people at the mac store didn't even realize it was on my new MBP till I told them!
Also, if you can, or if you allready have one; please use Time machine, or any other backup software. It's like buying inssurance; you never know when you'll need it.
http://www.aevoe.com/moshi/palmguard.htm
A palmguard that matches almost perfectly with my computer. The people at the mac store didn't even realize it was on my new MBP till I told them!
Also, if you can, or if you allready have one; please use Time machine, or any other backup software. It's like buying inssurance; you never know when you'll need it.
i have a reply!!! i'm a girl!!!!!
hey guess what? i'm girl too. and quite an attractive one, i am told. but i don't feel the need to declare it on a web forum where, thankfully, intelligence and information is the ruler. what sex u r or how perky u act doesn't matter.
i find it pretty offensive, as a girl, that someone will come on to a board they assume is swarming with desperate geeks that will trip over themselves to help her because she declares herself a girl, uses purple, and giggles.
i think the advice given so far have been very informative. and i wish u luck "crazy legs" on getting a laptop you are happy with. but please grow up and realize you are your greatest limitation and stop perpetuating stereotypes.
thanks for reading.
hey guess what? i'm girl too. and quite an attractive one, i am told. but i don't feel the need to declare it on a web forum where, thankfully, intelligence and information is the ruler. what sex u r or how perky u act doesn't matter.
i find it pretty offensive, as a girl, that someone will come on to a board they assume is swarming with desperate geeks that will trip over themselves to help her because she declares herself a girl, uses purple, and giggles.
i think the advice given so far have been very informative. and i wish u luck "crazy legs" on getting a laptop you are happy with. but please grow up and realize you are your greatest limitation and stop perpetuating stereotypes.
thanks for reading.
Hi all thanks for you help you all are great. I am reading everything now.
About me saying girl I was just being cute not meaning to get some of you all upset over this. Sorry if offended anyone.
About me saying girl I was just being cute not meaning to get some of you all upset over this. Sorry if offended anyone.
I hope you didn't take my post as being offensive or an attack on you. I just thought it was funny seeing the difference in view counts.
I was kinda surprised when I upgraded too, but 4GB of RAM is only about $80 these days:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231135
Kinda makes me wish my MBP could handle more than 4GB
I hope you didn't take my post as being offensive or an attack on you. I just thought it was funny seeing the difference in view counts.
No I don't think your attacking me.
Don't you worry.